Lecture 7. Derivative and tangent line.

Rate of change.
Mathematics I
2019/2020

References:
S&H (2nd ed) sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7
***
Recommended problems:
4.1: all | 4.2: 2, 3, 5, 6
4.5: 1–4 | 4.6: 1–10 | 4.7: 1–5

Reviewed by Mehdi Mdaghri

Index

Derivative and tangent line

Tangent line and derivative
Derivative function and second derivative
Rules of computing derivatives
Derivative and growth of a function
 Derivative and tangent line
Tangent line and derivative

Tangent line
Recall that the derivative of the funcion x 7−
→ f (x) at x = a
0
(written f (a)) is the slope of the line tangent to the graph of f at
the point P = (a, f (a)).

Graphically Properties
y The tangent line at
P = (a, f (a)), if it exists,
1. passes through the point
P = (a, f (a))

f (a) P = (a, f (a))

2. has slope f 0 (a)
and so its equation is
y = f (x)
y = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a)
x
a
(recall lecture 1)
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 Derivative and tangent line
Tangent line and derivative

Definition of derivative (1)

The tangent line to the graph of f at P = (a, f (a)) can be
obtained from the straight secants that go through P and
Q = (a + h, f (a + h)) (both lie on the graph) when h → 0.

Graphically y = f (x)
Properties
y The straight line that goes
Q
through P and Q has slope
f (a + h)
f (a + h) − f (a)
h
And if h goes small, the line
f (a)
y = f (x) P (PQ) converges to the tangent
line at the point P (in case it
x
a a+h exists).
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 Derivative and tangent line
Tangent line and derivative

Definition of derivative (2)

f (a+h)−f (a)
Since the slope of the line (PQ) is h , then the limit, if it
exists, defines f 0 (a) as

f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim (1)
h→0 h
This limit allows us to:
1. Find the derivative of a function at a given point (if it exists).
(Exercise) Calculate f 0 (4) where f (x) = x 2 − 2 using the
definition of the derivative.
2. See that there is no derivative for x 7−
→ f (x) = |x| at x = 0.

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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative function and second derivative

Derivative function and the second derivative

Derivative function
Given a function f : x 7− → f (x), consider the function
f 0 : x 7−
→ f 0 (x), whose value in each point x = a is the derivative
f 0 (a) (whenever it exists).
We typically call f 0 simply the derivative of f .
→ f 0 (x) = 2x.
→ f (x) = x 2 − 2 is x 7−
e.g. the derivative of x 7−

Higher order derivatives

In the same way, f 00 : x 7− → f 00 (x) is the derivative of the derivative
of f , that is f 00 (x) = (f 0 )0 (x).
We can calculate the third- and higher-order derivatives, e.g.
f 000 (x) = (f 00 )0 (x).

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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative function and second derivative

Notation
The derivative functions and higher-order derivatives are denoted
in different ways. For example

Function Derivative Derivative at x = a Second derivative

y = f (x) y 0 = f 0 (x) y 0 (a) = f 0 (a) y 00 = f 00 (x)

dy df dy df d 2y d 2f
y = f (x) dx = dx dx (a) = dx (a) dx 2
= dx 2
d d d2
y = f (x) dx f (x) dx f (a) dx 2
f (x)

x(t) (p. 107) ẋ(t) ẋ(a) ẍ(t)

d (n)
For derivative of upper order, you can find the notations dx n or
f (n) (x).
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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative function and second derivative

Notation (2)
Therefore
df
→ f 0 (x) =
x 7−
dx
denotes the derivative of the function f .

In case that the independent variable was not x the derivative is

computed with respect to the indicated variable. For example, if
P(t) = t 2 , then P 0 (t) = 2t (derive with respect to t).

To avoid confusion in case we have many variables, one can use

df
the notation dx that makes the independent variable explicit. For
example
dP
P = t 2 + 3x =⇒ = 3 since t is considered constant here.
dx
dP
P = t 2 + 3x =⇒ = 2t since x is considered constant here.
dt
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 Derivative and tangent line
Rules of computing derivatives

Rules of computing derivatives - Usual derivatives

1. (constant) If f (x) = A ∈ R then f 0 (x) = 0.
2. (additive constant) If y = A + f (x), then y 0 = f 0 (x).
3. (multiplicative constant) If y = Af (x), then y 0 = Af 0 (x).
4. (powers): If f (x) = x a , then f 0 (x) = ax a−1 (a ∈ R).
5. (sum) If F (x) = f (x) + g (x), then F 0 (x) = f 0 (x) + g 0 (x).
6. (product) If F (x) = f (x)g (x), then

F 0 (x) = f 0 (x)g (x) + f (x)g 0 (x).

f (x)
7. (quotient) If F (x) = g (x) , then

f 0 (x)g (x) − f (x)g 0 (x)

F 0 (x) = .
(g (x))2

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 Derivative and tangent line
Rules of computing derivatives

Other elementary derivatives

Using the rules on the previous slide we can start building up the
library of functions for which we can easily compute derivatives,
e.g. polynomials, quotients of polynomials, their sums, etc.
The following list gives us even more possibilities.
√
1. If f (x) = x = x 1/2 then f 0 (x) = (1/2)x −(1/2) = 1
√
2 x
.
2. If f (x) = e x then f 0 (x) = e x .
3. If f (x) = ln(x), then f 0 (x) = x1 .
4. If f (x) = ax then f 0 (x) = ax ln(a) (remember here a > 0).
5. If f (x) = loga (x), then f 0 (x) = 1 1
ln(a) x .

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 Derivative and tangent line
Rules of computing derivatives

Exercises
(Exercise) Calculate the following derivatives
1. If f (x) = x 2 + 3x + 6, then f 0 (x) = . . .
√
2. If f (x) = 3 x, then f 0 (x) = . . .
3. If P(t) = e t + t −4 + t 7 , then d
dt P = ...
d
4. If f (x) = x3 + 45x 2 − 1, then dx f = ...
d 2 p
5. dp (x + e ).
d 2 p
6. dx (x + e ).
d2
7. dx 2
(e x + x 3 ).
√
8. The tangent line to f (x) = x at x = 4 is . . .
Plot f and the corresponding tangent line.

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 Derivative and tangent line
Rules of computing derivatives

Exercises II

(Exercise) Calculate the following derivatives

ex
1. If f (x) = x 2 +4
, then f 0 (x) = . . .
√
2. If f (x) = 3
x · ln(x), then f 0 (x) = . . .
d x 2 +e p
3. dp ( p2
)
d x 2 +e p
4. dx ( p2
)
d2 x 2 +e p
5. dp 2
( p2
)
d 2 x 2 +e p
6. dx 2
( p2 )

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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative and growth of a function

Tangent line

(Exercise) Calculate the tangent line to f (x) = x 3 + 2 for x = 1.

1. Plot x 7−
→ f (x) and the tangent line at x = 1.

2. Find all the points where the slope of the tangent line is either
1 or −1.

3. Plot all the points found in item 2 and the corresponding

tangent lines.

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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative and growth of a function

Growth and derivative

Suppose that the derivative exists.

1. If the derivative at x = a is positive, f 0 (a) ≥ 0, then f is
(locally) increasing at x = a. The higher value of f 0 (a) the
quicker is the increase.
2. Similarly, if the derivative at x = a is negative, f 0 (a) ≤ 0, then
f is (locally) decreasing at x = a. The higher the absolute
value of f 0 (a), the quicker is the decrease.
3. If the derivative at x = a is 0, then the tangent line at x = a
is horizontal. We will say that the point x = a is a stationary
point of f .

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 Derivative and tangent line
Derivative and growth of a function

Examples
The derivative of x 7− → f 0 (x) = 3x 2 − 3.
→ f (x) = x 3 − 3x is x 7−
As you can see in the graph below:
I f 0 (x) = 0 if 3x 2 − 3 = 0, that is, when x = 1 or x = −1.
I f 0 (x) > 0 if x < −1 or x > 1 and in these intervals f
increases.
I f 0 (x) < 0 if −1 < x < 1 and in this interval f decreases.
y
3

−3 −2 −1 1 2 3
x

−1

−2

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−3